You've always wanted to visit a German Christmas market with its Bratwurst sausages, mulled wine and festive lights? Our all-round view of three of Berlin's prettiest markets puts you in the middle of the action.
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Our 360-degree videos let you experience the atmosphere of a German Christmas market.
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Christmas market on the Alexanderplatz
There are over 60 Christmas markets in Berlin. One of them is on Alexanderplatz, the center of former East Berlin. What can be seen from afar is Europe's biggest Christmas pyramid from the Ore Mountains.
Berliner Weihnachtszeit at the Roten Rathaus town hall
Only a few steps away, you'll find the next Christmas Market. This one is particularly good for children. It offers a giant Ferris wheel, an ice rink as well as a carousel and a children's train.
Christmas market at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
It is also very festive in western Berlin. The festive lights are very impressive in this central area of former West Berlin, known as the City West.
Here is an overview of Berlin's Christmas highlights:
Christmas cheer in Berlin
There are more than 50 Christmas markets in the German capital, scattered across the city. We'll show you our favorites - places in Berlin that glisten and glow with festive spirit.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/P. Zinken
Spandau old town center
We begin our tour of festive Berlin in the far west of the city. The traditional Christmas market in Spandau's old town center now looks back on a 43-year history. Every Wednesday Santa takes to the stage here to listen to children's wishes and sing along with them.
Image: picture alliance/ZB/S. Stache
Charlottenburg Palace
The Baroque palace in the district of the same name will serve for the tenth year as a magical setting for a Christmas market that focuses more on quality than quantity. It's an attractive combination of culinary delights and consumerism, with the palace and its park as a backdrop. In the new wing of the palace there will be special tours focusing on the topic of Christmas at court.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/B. Pedersen
Botanical Garden
Berlin's Botancal Garden, in the southwestern district of Dahlem, is presenting a "Christmas Garden" for the very first time this year, inspired by "Christmas in Kew" in the UK. Every evening, more than a million points of light, 23 illumination installations and 3,000 strings of fairy lights will transform the gardens into a brightly colored fairyland.
Image: picture alliance/Geisler-Fotopress
Memorial Church
In the heart of the western part of the city, around the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, they don't do things by halves. You can plunge into the hustle and bustle of the market here for six weeks, from November 26th until January 1st. More contemplative activities are on offer in the church, where you can enjoy everything from charity concerts to a Christmas Oratorio.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/R. Jensen
Tauentzienstrasse
You'll find this over-sized nutcracker on Tauentzienstrasse, which is an extension of the boulevard known as Kurfürstendamm. He's there for all passers-by to see during Advent and serves as a guidepost for stressed Christmas shoppers. Most will find what they are looking for in "KaDeWe", the luxury department store right next to him.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/P. Zinken
Potsdamer Platz
The "Winter World" at Potsdamer Platz is always first to get going – it opens in early November and remains open until New Year's Day. One of the attractions here is what the organizers claim is Europe's biggest mobile snow tubing run. After slushy experiences in the past, it now relies on a synthetic surface.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/R. Jensen
Unter den Linden
This boulevard is broad, and in winter, it's quite bright at night. Every year the lime trees that give Unter den Linden its name are illuminated. You might spend some money in shops on both sides of the street, but the real attraction is a stroll through the Christmassy sea of lights.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/P. Zinken
Gendarmenmarkt
This boulevard is broad, and in winter, it's quite bright at night. Every year the lime trees that give Unter den Linden its name are illuminated. You might spend some money in shops on both sides of the street, but the real attraction is a stroll through the Christmassy sea of lights.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/R. Jensen
Kulturbrauerei
This historically listed former brewery complex in the Prenzlauer Berg district of Berlin is a popular venue for entertainment and the arts all year long, with its theatre, cinemas and concert halls. In the winter, the Lucia Christmas market, inspired by Nordic traditions, adds a Scandinavian touch - with rides for the kids, handicrafts and tasty Swedish ginger biscuits.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/J. Carstensen
Rotes Rathaus
Mulled wine, roasted almonds and handicrafts are also on sale outside the Rotes Rathaus, Berlin's town hall. In addition, the Christmas market at the Rotes Rathaus offers ice skating - on a circular temporary ice rink around the Neptunbrunnen, a fountain dating back to 1891.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Rixdorfer Christmas market
Some say the good thing about Berlin is that it's really basically a collection of villages. That's why many districts are called "Dorf", which is the German for village. Alt-Rixdorf, an area in the Neukölln district, for instance, has preserved its traditions and peculiarities. The Alt-Rixdorf Christmas market, which is open only during the second weekend of Advent, is a perfect example.